Situation Definition:
In 1998, a young journalist made a series of decisions that destroyed not only his career but the view the world had on journalism. Stephen Glass, a 20-something journalist, was a successful, up and coming writer for a renowned magazine “The New Republic”. Glass was discovered as a fabricator after an article of his, “Hack Heaven” sent a shock wave of editors asking their reporters how they did not find the story first. As the article picked up steam, a reporter from Forbes soon realized that Glass was breaking the golden rule of journalism: telling the truth.
The movie Shattered Glass, tells the story of Glass and thus centers itself around the ethics of journalism. It brings light to unethical practices and just how easy it is to steer off the right path. Glass not only lied to his colleagues and editors but the ENTIRE world – which poses a major concern. Journalism is supposed to be about delivering the truth to people and yet he had no regard for that. The second ethical value Glass broke is teleology, otherwise known as ends-based thinking, a topic we discussed in class. Teleology is essentially choosing a path that brings good to others – and as we know, Glass did the opposite of that.
Analysis:
It’s hard to know if Glass did what he did, to the extent that he did it for fame. Originally, people were writing off his actions because of his age. Saying he is young and doesn’t know any better. Some people thought that it was the pressure to produce that made him fabricated so many of his stories. However, I believe his habitual offenses should send off red flags and show us that this WAS intentional. In a 60 minutes interview with Steve Kroft, Glass admits that his lying progressed because he wanted people to like him. He said, “I loved the electricity of people liking my stories. I loved going to story conference meetings and telling people what my story was going to be and seeing the room excited. I wanted every story to be a home run.”
Glass claims that when he started his career, it would just be a little white lie to make the story flow better. Once he saw the impact his stories had on his “esteem”, he kept going and going until each story was just a creation of his imagination; exactly 27 out of his 41 published articles were exactly that: imaginary.
His lying had the power to turn people AGAINST journalist, says communications and information professor Seow Ting Lee in an article for NYU. In the article, she talks about the ripple effect deception can have on not only those who consume news but those who produce it as well:“It is natural for newsmakers who have been deceived or members of the public who have witnessed deception by journalists to doubt the veracity of news’…’ It is a slippery slope; the use of deception to obtain a story may also render lying within a story more acceptable to journalists.” (Lee, 112)
The distrust in newsmakers is the exact reason I chose to talk about theology. Glasses actions had the power to make journalist the enemy and accused of lying on big platforms about important topics. Although Glasses stories may not have been about anything earth-shattering, they showed that journalists are not always credible. John Stuart Mill is quoted in an article titled Applied Ethics in Journalism discussing the utilitaristic side of teleology: which is all about benefiting others and doing what is best for the mass. He states, “we should base our moral decisions on what will bring about the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people and, at the same time, minimize harm to everyone else.” (Ferrier, 2) By creating distrust in the people we expect to always tell the truth, Glass breaks almost every ethical standard known in journalism.
Glass did the complete opposite of creating happiness for those around him. Him actions put his colleagues at risk, their livelihoods at risk, and also the integrity and credibility of all journalist. Teleology is an important ethical standard to have in journalism because it makes the writer consider the reader and produce for the happiness of those consumers. Each and every one of his readers and colleagues were harmed from his deception.
Conclusion:
I think the possible solutions for acts like this came from Stephen Glass himself. He exposed the hole in fact-checking, which in retrospect was a breakthrough for maintaining an ethical standard. I think journalists in general have to have an understanding of the level of reliability and credibility they are expected to maintain. In this industry, if you don’t have your reputation, you don’t have anything.
Stephen Glass has certainly felt the consequences of his actions after practically shaming his name in the journalism industry and becoming a poster boy for what NOT to do in journalism. He has tried to move on, even becoming a lawyer, but knowing the extent he lied and deceived, it’s impossible to ever trust someone like that ever again.
At the end of the day, journalists are truth-tellers. We don’t deceive, we expose and inform those who would never know better. Therefore, the ethical standards we are held to can never be faltered from.
References:
Kroft, S. (2003, May 7). Stephen Glass: I Lied For Esteem. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stephen-glass-i-lied-for-esteem-07-05-2003/
Seow Ting Lee (2004) Lying to Tell the Truth: Journalists and the
Social Context of Deception, Mass Communication & Society, 7:1,. Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327825mcs0701_7
Patricia Ferrier (1999, July 26) Applied Ethics in Journalism, 6th edition. Retrieved from
http://homepage.westmont.edu/hoeckley/Readings/Symposium/PDF/Intro/158i.pdf